A cafe owner who loses thousands of pounds every year from broken crockery has welcomed the recruitment of an owl to scare off seagulls.

Elsa the eagle owl, with a six foot wingspan, has been employed by fed up business owners to parade the streets of Caernarfon for the next six weeks in a bid to deter the birds who they say have become a “menace”.

Tudor Hughes who runs Caffi Maes on the main town square (Y Maes) is a big supporter of the plan to take on the gulls which is being funded by Hwb Caernarfon.

He said: “I’ve got 30 (outside) tables in the summer on Y Maes in Caernarfon, and in recent years the seagulls have become a menace.